Systems and methods for enhanced data routing based on a reconciled configuration

ABSTRACT

An arbitraged enhanced payment processing system in association with a distributed enhanced payment processing system includes a merchant point of sale (POS) terminal system and a remote payment management system. The POS terminal system initiates a transaction that includes receiving a payment amount, a purchaser account identifier, a virtual electronic payment indicator, and a merchant via a payment client. Subsequently, the POS terminal system outputs the transaction to the remote payment management system which generates a token for the transaction. The payment management system then provides the purchaser account identifier, a merchant account identifier, and the payment amount to a payment processing servicer. Upon receiving a payment processing servicer response, the payment management system outputs the response and token to the POS terminal system.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/743,283, filed on Jan. 16, 2013, entitled “Systems and Methods for Distributed Enhanced Payment Processing” which application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 13/563,534, filed on Jul. 31, 2012, entitled “Systems and Methods for Multi-Merchant Tokenization”, which applications are incorporated herein in their entirety by this reference.

BACKGROUND

This invention relates generally to systems and methods for distributed enhanced payment processing, including multi-merchant tokenization of transaction information, augmented with processing of virtual electronic payment (VEP), and additionally augmented with arbitrated payment of both VEP and legacy credit and debit card transactions. Such systems and methods enable increased security for payments and transactions, provide for more seamless transactions across groups of related merchants, and enable groups of related merchants as well as merchants in general to provide a broader range of payment related services than those available from traditional credit and debit payment card providers alone. Additionally, such systems and methods provide merchants greater control over the processing of electronic payments via Arbitraged Enhanced Payment (AEP) services including, but not limited to, how rapidly a given payment is processed and/or what entity processes a given payment.

Many brick and mortar merchants utilize electronic point of sale (POS) terminal systems to perform purchase tallying and payment processing including electronic payments. A natural element of POS terminal system development has been the establishment of third party electronic payment management service providers who securely and reliably aggregate and direct electronic payment requests from merchants' POS terminals to payment card companys' payment systems and thus act as payment intermediaries. Additionally, as electronically connected intermediaries, payment management service providers may provide AEP services with a granularity that may range from all the transactions of a given merchant down to per individual transactions.

Current payment management systems may rely solely on software from third party POS developers to support numerous POS input display and input devices with which to acquire payment related information from purchasers. Support for a new POS device or for a new VEP paver may be delayed by an overloaded POS developer. Therefore, a distributed architecture utilizing a “payment client” operating remotely on a given POS terminal system to directly provide support for numerous POS input display and input devices and for various VEP payers may thus offload POS developers and speed up availability of new VEP and POS device support. Additionally, such a payment client may be updated from time to time to support enhancements such as AEP services.

“Tokenization” provides a means for replacing sensitive transaction information with a “token” containing encrypted transaction information that is secured against deciphering by a hacker (or a merchant) because decryption key storage and decryption service is provided remotely from the storage location of the encrypted transaction information. This protects against a hacker accessing both said encrypted sensitive information and the corresponding decryption key when compromising a single system.

Often a merchant may have multiple locations that work together, or a merchant may operate a franchise location that works together with other franchise locations, and as such current systems may limit these merchants from all relying upon a single token. Thus, account information has to be individually input by each of the varied merchants in order to perform related transactions for a single customer. Multi-merchant tokenization allows utilization of a single token, which may include account information, by multiple associated merchant's POS terminal systems.

Virtual electronic payment service providers (VEP entities), such as PayPal, Dwolla, Google Wallet, etc., may act as intermediary payment agents for purchasers and/or merchants. VEP entities provide services that augment and/or substitute for traditional payment services such as payment cards and checking accounts.

In a general sense, arbitrage is the practice of taking advantage of a price difference between markets. The differential between what merchants pay for payment processing and what electronic payment processors (VEP and TCB credit card and debit card) charge to process large aggregations of payments creates a market for AEP services. In addition, the differential between the breadth of payment services desired by merchants and those provided by electronic payment processors creates a demand for AEP processing including, but not limited to, services such as choice of payment processor entity(s), prioritized transaction processing, and advance on receivables.

The electronic payment processing services accessed via POS terminal systems by brick and mortar merchants are absolutely fundamental to their businesses. Therefore, it is critically important that the addition of VEP entity services as well as AEP services causes little or no change or disruption to the use of “traditional card brand” (TCB) payer services such as credit cards and debit cards. Furthermore, to avoid aggravating purchasers, the interface for the new VEP entity services should integrate intuitively and relatively seamlessly with a given POS terminal system's existing purchaser user interfaces.

A given VEP entity may potentially offer an ever expanding set of services to purchasers. Further, since there is little barrier to entry into the Internet side of the VEP entity market, the number of VEP entities may continue to grow. And finally, there is no standardization of services or operation between VEP entities—for example, one VEP entity may require a 10 digit telephone number to identify a purchaser while another may require an email address. Clearly brick and mortar merchants—and therefore their POS terminal system vendors—need a way to easily, securely and inexpensively add support for selected VEP entities to their POS terminal systems. And they need to do this while controlling and limiting VEP entity access to their customers.

Payment management service providers as established electronic payment aggregators for brick and mortar merchants' POS terminal systems are a natural and logical choice for centralizing and localizing changes (and therefore minimizing costs) arising from the addition of VEP entity services. AEP services may provide additional means to control costs and/or accelerate cash flow.

It is therefore apparent that an urgent need exists for systems and methods for improved security and streamlined transaction payment processing including support for virtual electronic payment. Such systems will have the added benefit of decentralizing sensitive account data in a manner which increases security of user data, while shifting risks away from the payment service and expanding said payment service to process virtual electronic payments. AEP services serve a need that is fundamental and undeniable by allowing merchants to accelerate and/or improve cash flow.

SUMMARY

To achieve the foregoing and in accordance with the present invention, systems and methods for arbitraged enhanced payment (AEP) processing in association with a system of distributed enhanced payment processing with multi-merchant tokenization are provided. Such systems and methods enable processing of virtual electronic payment (VEP) in addition to traditional credit card and debit card payment secured by multi-merchant tokenization. Such systems have the added benefit of providing a broader range of payment related services including, but not limited to, the prioritization of payment transactions and the routing of payment transactions to a merchant-selected payment processing entity(s).

The system includes a merchant point of sale (POS) terminal system, a remote payment management system, a remote payment processing system, and a remote virtual electronic payment (VEP) entity system. The remote payment management system includes payment arbitraging and payment processing servicer facilities including merchant accounting services.

The POS terminal system initiates a request for a transaction that includes receiving a payment amount from a purchaser, and receiving a purchaser account identifier, a virtual electronic payment indicator, and a merchant ID via a payment client installed in the POS terminal system. The purchaser account identifier includes at least one of a primary account number, a unique purchaser alias and a purchaser biometric identifier. Subsequently, the POS terminal system outputs the transaction to the remote payment management system. In some embodiments, a given independent sales organization (ISO) may provide an ISO feeder system that aggregates payment transactions from said ISO's client merchant's POS systems.

The remote payment management system validates the merchant ID against merchant logs, ensuring that the merchant has been configured for tokenization, generates a token for the transaction, wherein the token includes the purchaser account identifier, an expiration, and a group ID. The payment management system then retrieves a service control directive(s) which controls the arbitraging and directing of the payment transaction thus determining the destination payment processing entity, which may for example be affiliated or be a third party. The payment management system then provides the purchaser account identifier, a merchant account identifier, and the payment amount to the payment processing entity. Upon receiving a response from the payment processing entity, the payment management system outputs the response and the token to the POS terminal system. In some embodiments, the remote payment management system may record some or all of a given payment transaction for utilization in post-processing including merchant accounting.

In some embodiments, the transaction can be encrypted, and the remote payment management system is configured to decrypt the transaction. The token can also be encrypted. A group ID enables particular merchants to redeem the token and the remote payment management system associates merchants to the group ID. The remote payment management system can be configured to query a database for merchant configuration. The remote payment management system declines the transaction if the merchant configuration does not match the transaction, and updates the database for changes in merchant configuration.

The remote payment management system can also be configured to receive the token from the merchant point of sale terminal system and validate the merchant ID against merchant logs to ensure that the merchant is configured for tokenization. The remote payment management system decrypts the token, compares the group ID to the merchant ID in the merchant logs, and provides the purchaser account identifier, the merchant account identifier and the payment amount to the remote VEP entity system. Upon receiving a second response from the remote VEP entity system, the payment management system outputs the second response to the merchant point of sale terminal system.

Note that the various features of the present invention described above may be practiced alone or in combination. These and other features of the present invention will be described in more detail below in the detailed description of the invention and in conjunction with the following figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order that the present invention may be more clearly ascertained, some embodiments will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an example schematic block diagram for a system for multi-merchant tokenization, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 is an example schematic block diagram for a more detailed view of components within the tokenization and payment management system, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 is an example schematic block diagram for the tokenizer encryption service, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 is an example process flow diagram for multi-merchant tokenization, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 5-7 are example flowcharts for methods for multi-merchant tokenization, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are example schematic block diagrams for mechanisms for secure transactions, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIGS. 9A and 9B are example illustrations for computer systems configured to embody the multi-merchant tokenization system, in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 is a System Level Block Diagram of a Distributed Enhanced Payment (DEP) Processing System in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a Top Level Logic Flow Diagram in accordance with a DEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary screen shot of a payer choice payment control subscreen in accordance with a DEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary screen shot of a payer list configuration facility screen in accordance with a DEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a Logic Flow Diagram that further decomposes Step 1160 of FIG. 11 so as to describe the processing of VEP in accordance with a DEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a Logic Flow Diagram that further decomposes Step 1180 of FIG. 11 so as to describe the processing of VEP in accordance with a DEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a System Level Block Diagram of an Arbitraged Enhanced Payment (AEP) Processing System in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a Top Level Logic Flow Diagram in accordance with an AEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 18 is a Logic Flow Diagram that further decomposes Step 1710 of FIG. 17 so as to describe the retrieval of service control directive(s) that may affect AEP processing of a given payment transaction, including but not limited to VEP, in accordance with an AEP Processing System embodiment;

FIG. 19 is a Logic Flow Diagram that further decomposes Step 1720 of FIG. 17 so as to describe the prioritization of processing of payment transactions, including but not limited to VEP transactions, in accordance with an AEP Processing System embodiment; and

FIG. 20 is a Logic Flow Diagram that further decomposes Step 1730 of FIG. 17 so as to describe the selective directing of payment transactions for processing of electronic payments, including but not limited to VEP transactions, in accordance with an AEP Processing System embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to several embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art, that embodiments may be practiced without some or all of these specific details. In other instances, well known process steps and/or structures have not been described in detail in order to not unnecessarily obscure the present invention. The features and advantages of embodiments may be better understood with reference to the drawings and discussions that follow.

Aspects, features and advantages of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description in connection with the accompanying drawing(s). It should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the described embodiments of the present invention provided herein are illustrative only and not limiting, having been presented by way of example only. All features disclosed in this description may be replaced by alternative features serving the same or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Therefore, numerous other embodiments of the modifications thereof are contemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention as defined herein and equivalents thereto. Hence, use of absolute terms, such as, for example, “will,” “will not,” “shall,” “shall not,” “must,” and “must not,” are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention as the embodiments disclosed herein are merely exemplary.

The following discussion relates to methods and systems for multi-merchant tokenization in a payment processor. Such systems and methods increase security for electronic transactions, reduce risks borne by the payment processor, and allow for seamless multi-merchant transactions without the need to repeatedly collect user account data.

Note that the following disclosure includes a series of subsections. These subsections are not intended to limit the scope of the disclosure in any way, and are merely for the sake of clarity and ease of reading. As such, disclosure in one section may be equally applied to processes or descriptions of another section if and where applicable.

Also note that particular consideration is made to credit card transactions due to the prevalence of these transactions. Despite this reference to credit cards, the disclosed systems and methods can apply equally well to any payment methods where sensitive information being transferred. This may include debit transactions, gift card transactions, PayPal transactions, smart card transactions, mobile application transactions, and the usage of loyally cards, to name but a few. Effectively, any circumstance where account numbers, or other sensitive information, is being transferred may be employed within the scope of the disclosed systems and methods.

I. Multi-Merchant Tokenization Systems

To facilitate this discussion, FIGS. 8A and 8B provide example block diagrams for methods for securely handling transaction payments, in accordance with some embodiments. In FIG. 8A, the point of sale terminal 102 may collect credit card information (or other sensitive payment information) and transfer the data securely to the payment system(s) 106, at 800 a. Intermediary in this transaction is a payment processor which ensures validity of the request, and generates a multi-merchant token. The payment system(s) 106 returns a transaction response securely with the token generated by the payment processor to the merchant.

By relying upon a token, the merchant no longer has to send the credit card information for subsequent transactions and may instead utilize the token for follow-up activities. For example, a restaurant may initially run a transaction for the cost of a meal, and perform a follow-up transaction using the token for processing the tip. Another example may include recurring transactions for a gym membership. A retailer may use tokens for returns or price adjustments rather than resending sensitive transaction information.

In contrast to current tokenization systems, the presently disclosed systems and methods transfer a token with a unique makeup (including encrypted card data) that enables distributed storage of sensitive information, as well as the ability for multiple merchants to share the token for transactions. This may be of particular use in franchise or related businesses, where a customer's payment information may be processed by multiple merchants.

For example, a customer may purchase a good from location A from a franchise retailer. The customer then decides to return the item to location B which is within the same franchise, but may not be owned by the same entity. Instead of denying the transaction, or re-running the card using the presently disclosed system, the token may be leveraged to perform the transaction.

FIG. 8B illustrates a schematic block diagram illustrating end to end (E2E) encryption, at 800 b. End to end encryption protects sensitive information from malware loaded upon a point of sale terminal, and may be employed in conjunction with multi-merchant tokenization.

In these systems, the card information is encrypted at the reader head, upon collection. Thus, the information conveyed from the reader to the rest of the POS system is already secure. Since the POS system may be infected by malware, this early encryption ensures that the data remains secure from the very start. While the currently disclosed systems and methods can be employed with end to end encryption, this is not a required feature to employ the tokenization disclosed herein.

The secure data is then transmitted to the payment system(s) 106, and the response may be returned in an encrypted format. Since the data is never in the clear, E2E payment methods ensures added security from potential vulnerability at the point of sale terminal 102. Further, when utilized in conjunction with multi-merchant tokens, the system's security is even more robust.

Turning to FIG. 1, an example schematic block diagram for a system for multi-merchant tokenization is provided, shown generally at 100. In this example block diagram, a purchaser 101 may be seen interacting with the point of sale terminal 102 in order to pay for a purchase, or otherwise settle a transaction. Typically the purchaser 101 provides a magnetically stored account number and expiration in the form of a credit card, but as previously discussed any form of sensitive payment information may be utilized, in some embodiments.

The point of sale 102 may include a fixed reader coupled to a terminal, an integrated cash register system, mobile payment application, or the like. As noted above, the point of sale terminal 102 may encrypt the collected data at the reader head in order to ensure security. Alternatively the initial encryption may be performed in software deeper in the point of sale terminal 102, in some embodiments. Software encryption, however, increases vulnerability to security breach if the point of sale terminal 102 has been compromised. Regardless of location of initial encryption, an encryption protocol may be employed, in some embodiments. This encryption protocol typically includes a merchant ID, amount for the transaction, passwords and an encrypted portion. The encrypted potion may be in the following format, in some embodiments:

<encryption> <block> <key> <serial number> </encryption>

Note that while a specific encryption protocol is presented here, alternate known encryption schemas may be readily employed in alternate embodiments.

The point of sale terminal 102 may be capable of providing the collected account information (and other sensitive information) to a payment service(s) 104 in the tokenization and payment management system 120 (payment processor). This transfer of data may be performed over the internet or via a dial in connection. The payment service(s) 104 may include a plurality of systems for receiving the data, dependent upon transmission mechanism and data type, as will be discussed in greater detail below. The payment service(s) 104 does an initial check for encryption of the data. If the received data is not encrypted, it may be transferred immediately to payment system(s) 106 for transfer of funds, or directly to entities such as Visa, MasterCard, etc. Payment system(s) 106 may include entities such as Global Card Bank, for example. However, where encryption is present, and tokenization is desired, the payment service(s) 104 may transfer the information to a tokenizer encryption service 110 for processing. The payment service(s) 104 validates the encrypted block, encrypted key and reader serial number lengths. It also validates the merchant's ID with a stored database of terminal IDs.

The tokenizer encryption service 110 validates credentials and identifies keys for the encrypted data. The tokenizer encryption service 110 may leverage a data tier 114 populated by analytics 116 system and CRM application(s) in order to perform validation and identification of keys. The data is then submitted to a hardware security module 108 for decryption and the generation of a token. The token includes a primary account number (PAN), a group ID (GID), an expiration date for the token, and an expiration date for the card.

In some embodiments, the expiration date of the token may be varied depending upon if the token is designated as a single use token, or for recurring transactions (i.e., a subscription). For example, a 1 year and 2 year expiration may be provided for a single use and recurring token, respectively. This allows for a longer validity period where the merchant is anticipating reuse of the token, and ensures that tokens are not stored unnecessarily long for single use tokens.

The token, which is encrypted, and clear text of the data supplied by the point of sale terminal 102 are returned to the tokenizer encryption service 110, and subsequently to the payment service(s) 104. The payment service(s) 104 transfers the clear text to the payment system(s) 106 for a transaction response. The response is then provided, along with the token, back to the merchant. The merchant may then store the encrypted token in a local database for later transactions.

Unlike current tokenization technology, the PAN (primary account number) is stored as part of the token, with the merchant, in encrypted form. The merchant cannot access the PAN without the keys maintained within the hardware security module 108. Thus, for account information to be compromised, both the merchant system and the tokenization and payment management system 120 would need to be breached. In all other known token based systems, the PAN is stored exclusively upon the payment processor's system, enabling a hacker to collect account information by breaching a single system.

Additionally, unlike other token based systems, the present system includes a GID (group ID) which enables more than one merchant to utilize the token. The data tier 114 maintains a copy of merchant IDs and correlates them with one or more GIDs. When a token is supplied to the system during a later transaction, the GID in the token is compared against the merchant ID listed in the data tier 114. If they match, then the tokenization and payment management system 120 may process the token.

FIG. 2 is an example schematic block diagram for a more detailed view of components within the tokenization and payment management system, in accordance with some embodiments. In this example block diagram, encrypted data 202 from the point of sale terminal 102 is seen being delivered to the payment service(s) 104 via any of a dial access connector 204, internet socket 206 or web services 208. When data is delivered to the dial access connector 204, it may pass through a dial access concentrator 210 prior to being provided to a server 214. If data passes through the internet socket 206 or web services 208, it may be supplied to the server 214.

In addition to the server 214, other servers may be included, in alternate embodiments, in order to handle alternate inputs. For example, in embodiments where gift cards or loyalty cards are being processed, the system may include a gift card server or loyalty card server. Generally, the system is designed to be scalable to take any number of payment types, as is desirable for any particular scenario.

The server 214 determines if token is present and/or if data is encrypted. If not encrypted and the merchant is not setup for tokenization, the clear text data is transferred to the payment system(s) 106 (such as Global Card Bank, Visa, etc.) for approval or declining. Otherwise, if the data includes a token or encrypted data, it may be provided to the tokenizer encryption service 110, as previously discussed.

FIG. 3 is an example schematic block diagram for the tokenizer encryption service 110, in accordance with some embodiments. This component may include two distinct modules: an incoming switch gate logic module 302 and an encryption service business logic 304. The incoming switch gate logic module 302 may validate credentials of the merchant, and the encryption service business logic 304 may identify keys for the data. The encryption service business logic 304 may access the data tier 114 and one or more hardware security module 108 a and 108 b. More than one hardware security module 108 a and 108 b may be employed for redundancy supporting failover and load balance.

Lastly, FIG. 4 is an example process flow diagram for multi-merchant tokenization system, in accordance with some embodiments. Here it is seen that a purchaser 101 makes an electronic payment 402 via a point of sale terminal 102. The transaction request built by the point of sale terminal 102 includes an indication requesting tokenization, in this example.

The transaction is submitted to the tokenization and payment management system 120, in this example, where the transaction data is checked for the token indicator (at 404). The merchant ID included in the transaction data is also compared against records to determine if the merchant is configured for tokenization. If the token indicator is present, and the merchant ID matches the ability to perform tokenization, then the transaction is set to be routed through tokenization logic, and is sent to the payment system(s) 106 for authorization (at 406).

If the merchant ID does not match the token indicator in the transaction, then a decline is sent back to the merchant (at 408). This is a sanity check that ensures that both the transaction and merchant configuration are in alignment prior to approving a transaction. Once the transaction is declined, the merchant may contact the tokenization and payment management system 120 to confirm correct setup if they believe the decline was in error.

If the transaction is approved by the payment system(s) 106, then the transaction may be sent through the tokenization logic (at 414). In alternate embodiments, the transaction is sent through the tokenization logic prior to approval by the payment system(s) 106, and the token is attached to the response by the payment system(s) 106 regardless of approval status. As noted above, the token contemplated herein includes the primary account number, token expiration, card (or account number) expiration, and a group ID.

Once the token is assembled, it is inserted into a token field in the transaction response (at 416). The response is provided to the merchant where the approval is received, and the merchant retains the token instead of the primary account number.

II. Multi-Merchant Tokenization Methods

Now that embodiments of the basic system architecture have been described, FIG. 5 is presented to illustrate one embodiment of a method for multi-merchant tokenization, shown generally at 500. In this example process, the point of sale sends a request with the cardholders data to the server (at 502). The server may determine if the request includes a recurring frequency element (at 504). If the request is for a recurring token, logic for a recurring billing token may be utilized (at 508). Alternatively, if the request is for a normal single use token, logic for this token may be utilized (at 506). Generally, recurring tokens may differ from normal tokens by having a longer period before they expire.

Next, the token request is compared against the merchant's setup (as stored in a database) to make sure that the token request is in alignment to the merchant's configuration (at 510). If the merchant does not match the token request, the transaction may be declined (at 512). Otherwise, if there is a match between the request and the merchant's configuration, the system determines if a token is being requested (at 514). If no token is requested, the entire tokenization logic may be bypassed and the system may forward the transaction to the payment system(s) 106 without tokenization (at 520). In alternate embodiments, all transactions will be processed for a token regardless if a request for tokenization is present. In these embodiments, merchants that are configured to accept tokens will receive them if they have submitted a correctly formatted transaction request. In these embodiments, only if the request is incorrectly formatted will the tokenization process be bypassed or declined.

However, if tokenization is requested, the server may request a token (at 516) from the hardware security module 108 based upon the frequency element (normal or recurring). If the transaction is approved by the card brand (at 518), then the approval is returned to the merchant (at 524), or is otherwise declined (at 522). In some embodiments, regardless of transaction approval or decline, the token will be provided to the merchant along with the transaction response.

In an alternate method, as shown at 600 of FIG. 6, the point of sale terminal 102 sends a request to the tokenization and payment management system 120 with a token (at 602). The server detects the presence of the token, as well the frequency element of the token (at 604). The system next determines if the merchant is set up for tokenization by querying merchant account information (at 606). If the merchant is not set up for tokenization, the request will be denied (at 610). However, if the merchant is set up for tokenization, then the system may inquire if the frequency clement is for a recurring token at (608).

When a recurring frequency element is present, the server may modify billing mode for recurring billing transactions (at 612). After this, or if no recurring element is present, the tokenizer encryption service 110 requests decryption of the token from the hardware security module 108 to retrieve account numbers, expiration dates, group ID, and optionally the generation of an updated token (at 614). In some embodiments, every transaction may include updates of the token. This ensures tokens never become stale; however, alternate embodiments may keep existing tokens, or only update upon requests, in some cases.

The decrypted token information is used to get approval from the payment system(s) 106 (at 616). An approval response (at 618) or declining response (at 610) may be provided back to the point of sale terminal 102. In cases where the token has been updated, the new token may accompany the response regardless of if it was approved. This new token may then be stored within the merchant's system for later use.

As previously noted, due to the presence of a group ID within the token, the system may also undergo a check to determine if the merchant is linked to the group ID. If so, the merchant is authorized to use the token. If not, the transaction may be declined.

FIG. 7 provides yet another flow diagram for an embodiment for multi-merchant tokenization of transactions, shown generally at 700. In this example process, the point of sale sends an end to end request to the server (at 702). The server detects the end to end transaction (at 704) and ensures that the merchant is configured for such transactions by referencing merchant account data (at 706). If the merchant is not configured for end to end transactions, then the transaction is declined (at 708). However, if the merchant is set up for end to end transactions, the process then determines if the initial request is encrypted (at 710). Subsequently, the system determines if the merchant is configured for tokenization (at 712).

If the request was not encrypted, or if the merchant is not set up for tokenization, then the transaction is declined (at 708). However, if the merchant is configured for tokenization and the request was encrypted, the server modifies the billing mode (at 714) for recurring transactions (if the transaction is a recurring event), and the data is decrypted (at 716). The decrypted data is supplied to a payment system(s) 106 for approval (at 718) and if approved, the data may be returned to the merchant (at 720). Otherwise the transaction may be declined (at 708).

III. System Embodiments

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate a Computer System 900, which is suitable for implementing embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 9A shows one possible physical form of the Computer System 900. Of course, the Computer System 900 may have many physical forms ranging from a printed circuit board, an integrated circuit, and a small handheld device up to a huge super computer. Computer system 900 may include a Monitor 902, a Display 904, a Housing 906, a Disk Drive 908, a Keyboard 910, and a Mouse 912. Disk 914 is a computer-readable medium used to transfer data to and from Computer System 900.

In addition to the standard desktop, or server, computer system illustrated, it is fully within the scope of this disclosure that any computer system capable of the required storage and processing demands would be suitable for embodying the present invention. This may include tablet devices, smart phones, pin pad devices, and any other computer devices, whether mobile or even distributed on a network (i.e., cloud based).

FIG. 9B is an example of a block diagram for Computer System 900. Attached to System Bus 920 are a wide variety of subsystems. Processor(s) 922 (also referred to as central processing units, or CPUs) are coupled to storage devices, including Memory 924. Memory 924 includes random access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM). As is well known in the art, ROM acts to transfer data and instructions uni-directionally to the CPU and RAM is used typically to transfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. Both of these types of memories may include any suitable of the computer-readable media described below. A Fixed Disk 926 may also be coupled bi-directionally to the Processor 922; it provides additional data storage capacity and may also include any of the computer-readable media described below. Fixed Disk 926 may be used to store programs, data, and the like and is typically a secondary storage medium (such as a hard disk) that is slower than primary storage. It will be appreciated that the information retained within Fixed Disk 926 may, in appropriate cases, be incorporated in standard fashion as virtual memory in Memory 924. Removable Disk 914 may take the form of any of the computer-readable media described below.

Processor 922 is also coupled to a variety of input/output devices, such as Display 904, Keyboard 910, Mouse 912 and Speakers 930. In general, an input/output device may be any of: video displays, track balls, mice, keyboards, microphones, touch-sensitive displays, transducer card readers, magnetic or paper tape readers, tablets, styluses, voice or handwriting recognizers, biometrics readers, or other computers. Processor 922 optionally may be coupled to another computer or telecommunications network using Network Interface 940. With such a Network Interface 940, it is contemplated that the Processor 922 might receive information from the network, or might output information to the network in the course of performing the above-described multi-merchant tokenization. Furthermore, method embodiments of the present invention may execute solely upon Processor 922 or may execute over a network such as the Internet in conjunction with a remote CPU that shares a portion of the processing.

In addition, embodiments of the present invention further relate to computer storage products with a computer-readable medium that have computer code thereon for performing various computer-implemented operations. The media and computer code may be those specially designed and constructed for the purposes of the present invention, or they may be of the kind well known and available to those having skill in the computer software arts. Examples of computer-readable media include, but are not limited to: magnetic media such as hard disks, floppy disks, and magnetic tape; optical media such as CD-ROMs and holographic devices; magneto-optical media such as floptical disks; and hardware devices that are specially configured to store and execute program code, such as application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), programmable logic devices (PLDs) and ROM and RAM devices. Examples of computer code include machine code, such as produced by a compiler, and files containing higher level code that are executed by a computer using an interpreter.

IV. Enhancements—Distributed Enhanced Payment

The Distributed Enhanced Payment (DEP) Processing System—is directed to novel methods and systems for acquiring, translating, communicating, securing, storing, retrieving, aggregating and post-processing electronic payment information (EPI) pertaining to a given individual purchaser via a given merchant's POS terminal system; utilizing secure, distributed and re-usable multi-merchant tokenization (as described previously herein) to store and/or retrieve some or all of said EPI; and/or securely communicating some or all of said EPI utilizing clear text and/or tokenization included in a given payer authorization request communicated to a payer chosen by a given purchaser—with such a request transacted in such a way that creditworthiness may be verified and/or funds transferred between said purchaser's funding account and a corresponding transacting merchant's account in the amount of a “requested payment” as may be indicated by the EPI. In some authorization requests, the requested payment may be for a purchase and thus result in the debiting of funds from the purchaser's funding account and crediting to the transacting merchant's account. In some authorization requests, the requested payment may be for a full or partial refund and thus result in the debiting of funds from the transacting merchant's account and crediting to the purchaser's funding account. For a given authorization request, the amount of the requested payment may be utilized to check for the availability of credit and/or funds for an anticipated but not yet realized purchase—i.e., a pre-authorization and result in zero change to the fund level in the purchaser s funding account due to that pre-authorization. In some authorization requests, such as for a check-in transaction, the requested payment may be left unvalued or may have a value that may be ignored.

In some embodiments, purchase payment, refund and pre-authorization authorization requests may be utilized for VEP entities as well as for TCB payers. However, processing VEP may utilize a check-in transaction to identify and authenticate a given purchaser and said purchaser with a broader range of services than TCB payer services may provide. Competition with VEP entities may cause TCB payers to also support a check-in transaction; or to acquire or be acquired by or merge with a VEP entity that does. Therefore, despite references to VEP and VEP entities, the systems and methods disclosed herein may apply equally well to any payment methods where sensitive information may be transferred. This may include debit transactions, credit card transactions, gift card transactions, PayPal transactions, smart card transactions, mobile application transactions, and the usage of loyalty cards, to name but a few.

In some embodiments, electronic payment information—EPI—required by a VEP entity and/or TCB payer may include but not be limited to: purchaser payment credential(s), transaction description, and payment request information. More specifically, EPI may include but not be limited to: purchaser's primary account identifying information and/or purchaser authenticating information; authorization request type (e.g., check-in, pre-authorization, purchase payment, refund); transacting merchant's account identifying information and/or credential(s); POS identifying. information such as location and terminal number; transaction identifying information such as date, time, SKU, quantity and price; and payment request information such as requested payment amount, transacting merchant's account identifying information, as well as identifying information and/or credential(s) corresponding to payment management system 120 requesting payment as the merchant's intermediary.

In some embodiments, EPI may include TCB payer or VEP entity identifying information that may be utilized for associating a given authorization request to the appropriate payment entity such as VEP entity or TCB payer.

In some embodiments, if the primary account identified in the EPI may be a VEP primary account from a VEP entity such as PayPal, Dwolla, or Google Wallet, the VEP primary account may reference in turn a different pre-associated purchaser finding account, for example a MasterCard account or a bank checking account, from which the requested payment may actually be debited (or credited). Some VEP entity's services may be referred to colloquially as an ‘electronic wallet’ or ‘e-wallet’ or similar term evoking the notional image of a virtual payment containing and/or dispensing entity.

In some embodiments, purchaser payment credential(s) required by a VEP entity and/or TCB payer may include but not be limited to: primary account number (PAN), personal identification number (PIN), payment card/credential(s) expiration date, purchaser's name, purchaser's billing postal code. Some VEP entities may utilize a unique purchaser identifier that may operate as a substitute for the actual PAN, i.e., a unique purchaser alias. For example, a given purchaser utilizing a given VEP entity may type in said purchaser's ten digit phone number and also a corresponding multi-digit ‘secret’ PIN. The VEP entity may use such purchaser authenticating information to lookup the corresponding PAN; and from that PAN determine the corresponding purchaser funding account. Depending on the VEP entity, one or more unique purchaser identifier(s) may be utilized as a substitute for the actual PAN, including but not limited to a telephone number, an email address a social network ‘handle’, a postal address, a VEP approved user name, or a third part issued account or identification number. The VEP entity may leverage the diligence of a third party, e.g., Gmail, to assure that the substituted purchaser identifier is unique to the purchaser within the identifier space of that third party. Many VEP entities may require purchaser authenticating information including a PIN or password in addition to the purchaser identifier, and may require unique identifier and PIN/password pairings. It should be noted that a purchaser potentially may use the same substitute purchaser identifier and/or PIN/password for more than one VEP entity. For example, a given purchaser may use the same pairing of phone number: 650-567-9153 and PIN: 5653 for both PayPal and Dwolla and yet be uniquely identified and authenticated for the separate purposes of each of those VEP entities. Therefore, unlike the PAN of a TCB payer account, a purchaser's payment credential(s) may not inherently identify a unique corresponding VEP entity. Also in contrast TCB payer services operate by identifying the funding account rather than the purchaser, i.e., an essential component of purchaser payment credential(s) for TCB payers is the primary account number (PAN), which for credit cards typically may be the same as the funding account number, whereas for debit cards, the PAN typically may be utilized by the TCB payer to lookup the separate funding account number.

To facilitate discussion, FIG. 10 shows an exemplary structural block diagram of a Virtual Electronic Payment processing system 1000, which in some embodiments may be utilized by a given purchaser 101 to conduct electronic payment related transactions. Tender 1015 may be physically exchanged or may be presented in a virtual form for electronic exchange on said purchaser's behalf by third parties such as VEP entity system(s) 105 and/or payment system(s) 106. Purchaser 101 may directly utilize POS terminal system 102; and/or another party or parties (not shown)—performing on the purchaser's behalf and/or on the transacting merchant's behalf (e.g., a checking clerk)—may utilize said POS terminal system 102 to assist said purchaser 101. To avoid reiterating the above in the description that follows, references to a purchaser 101 utilizing a given POS terminal system 102 may apply equally to party(s) utilizing said POS terminal system 102 on the purchaser's behalf as indicated above.

A DEP Processing System 1000 may in some embodiments utilize a distributed system facility—a Payment Client 1025 a—integrated with a POS terminal system 102 and operating on a POS processor 1025 and utilizing a Payment Depository 1028 to cache and/or record information—including multi-merchant tokenized EPI as described previously—related to transaction payment and/or related to other authorization requests. Furthermore, Payment Client 1025 a may in some embodiments operate POS input device(s) 1022 and POS display device(s) 1024 in coordination with—but independent of—third party POS system software (not shown) running on POS processor 1025 such that said third party sourced POS system software may be isolated from information transmitted to POS display device(s) 1024 or received from POS input device(s) 1022 by Payment Client 1025 a. In this way, Payment Client 1025 a may interact with a given purchaser 101 to securely process said purchaser's electronic payment and/or payment related transaction in such a way that Payment Client 1025 a's functioning may appear to purchaser 101 to be part of a single fully integrated POS terminal system 102.

A DEP Processing System 1000 further may in some embodiments include a payment management system 120 accessed from a given POS terminal system 102 via a communication facility 1081. As previously detailed, such a payment management system 120 may serve as a secure information repository and tokenizer. Additionally, payment management system 120 may operate as an electronic payment transaction normalizing and aggregating intermediary between POS terminal system 102 and VEP entity system(s) 105 accessed via a communication facility 1085. Payment management system 120 may provide facilities including but not limited to storage, retrieval, validation and tracking of: tokens, decryption keys, and correlations between merchant IDs and group IDs.

As well as supporting processing of VEP authorization requests, in some embodiments DEP Processing System 1000 may also support processing of TCB payer authorization requests wherein payment management system 120 may utilize a communication facility 1087 to communicate with payment system(s) 106.

In some embodiment(s), VEP entity system(s) 105, may utilize communication facility 1086 to communicate with payment system(s) 106. For example, PayPal may debit a given purchase payment from a purchaser's MasterCard credit card funding account.

In some embodiments, some or all of communication facilities 1081, 1085, 1086, and 1087 may utilize common underlying facilities. For example, one or several of said communication facilities may utilize the Internet, while other of said communication facilities may utilize a common private network.

Referring further to FIG. 10, in some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a and third party sourced POS system software may each be described as a “control entity”. In some embodiments, both control entities may concurrently display information on POS display device(s) 1024 thus creating “blended display”. The portion(s) of the blended display that may be sourced from Payment Client 1025 a may be referred to as “payment control subscreen(s)”. In some embodiments, a payment control subscreen(s) may occupy a portion of or the entire display of a given POS display device(s) 1024 and may over-write whatever was previously displayed in the affected area of said POS display device(s) 1024. The operation of the payment control subscreen(s) may be coordinated between Payment Client 1025 a and POS system software so as not to unwittingly overwrite each other's display information. In some embodiments, to make such coordination easier to implement, a ‘toggling’ regime may be utilized whereby one or the other control entity operates POS input and display device(s)—1022 and 1024 respectively—while the other control entity may be in a ‘dormant’ state awaiting control to be toggled back to it. In some embodiments, as previously described, POS input device(s) 1022 may be configured to encrypt input information—including but not limited to purchaser payment credential(s) input at the reader head—such that POS system software as well as any potential malware on a POS terminal system 102 may be incapable of directly accessing such secured input information.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may concurrently operate more than one separate POS input device(s) 1022 and/or POS display device(s) 1024 to process a given purchaser 101's transaction. For example, the checking clerk's POS display device(s) 1024 may be different than a given purchaser's and may display more or different information. Payment Client 1025 a may thus concurrently support different versions of payment control subscreens for the checking clerk and purchaser 101 respectively. For example, the checking clerk's display screen may include a photograph to help visually verify the identity of a given purchaser 101.

In some embodiments, a single device may provide facilities of both POS input device(s) 1022 as well as POS display device(s) 1024—for example a ‘pen-pad’.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may exclusively operate POS input device(s) 1022 and/or POS display device(s) 1024. For example, more primitive devices such as legacy pen-pads may be difficult or undesirable to operate using shared control with POS system software. In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may act in part as a proxy or as a virtual device providing an indirect means for POS system software to display information on POS display device(s) 1024 and read information from POS input device(s) 1022. Such ‘virtualization’ of POS input device(s) 1022 and/or POS display device(s) 1024 may make it easier for a POS system vendor to upgrade a merchant's POS terminal system with different POS input device(s) 1022 and/or POS display device(s) 1024.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may conduct some or all of the processing of the purchaser payment credential(s) in coordination with, but independent of POS system software. The degree to which Payment Client 1025 a may share processing of the purchaser payment credential(s) with POS system software may be determined by a pre-configured profile—a “persona”—that may be pre-configured by the appropriate third party POS system vendor and/or POS system software developer(s) supporting a given POS terminal system 102. Depending on said pre-configuration of the persona, Payment Client 1025 a may by varying degree share purchaser payment credential(s) with or isolate purchaser payment credential(s) from POS system software—effectively providing varying levels of Payment Client 1025 a autonomous operation and purchaser payment credential(s) security. Additionally, said persona may be pre-configured to establish the degree of coordination of control of POS processor 1025, POS input device(s) 1022, and POS display device(s) 1024 between Payment Client 1025 a and POS system software. The levels of security provided by various Payment Client 1025 a personas may be devised so as to be compliant with third party security audit requirements including from organizations such as PCI (not shown) as well as operators of VEP entity system(s) 105 and/or payment system(s) 106.

In some embodiments, POS terminal system 102 may obtain some or all of the EPI from the purchaser 101 utilizing POS display device(s) 1024 and/or POS input device(s) 1022 and/or from previously stored transaction information and/or other records. For example, such EPI may be stored at POS terminal system 102 within a multi-merchant token, as described previously. POS system software may provide said EPI to Payment Client 1025 a such that Payment Client 1025 a may acquire EPI for a given purchaser 101 and communicate such EPI to payment management system 120 via a communication facility 1081.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 utilizing payment management system 120 may record the details of a payment transaction including but not be limited to; EPI, a transaction outcome indication, i.e., ‘approved’ or ‘declined’, and an “authorization code” (if any). In some embodiments, some or all of such recorded details, or an identifier for such recorded details, may be included in a multi-merchant token. Such a multi-merchant token may be communicated to POS terminal system 102, where it may be stored as described previously. In some embodiments, to protect a given purchaser 101's privacy, portions of a given transaction record included in a token may be redacted and/or encrypted.

In some embodiments, the EPI may be encrypted in part or in full at the reader head, or otherwise within a given POS input device(s) 1022, or by POS system software prior to access to the EPI by Payment Client 1025 a. Furthermore, in some embodiments, portions or all of encrypted EPI may not be decrypted by payment management system 120, but rather communicated in raw encrypted and/or multi-merchant tokenized form as part of a given authorization request communicated to a given VEP entity system(s) 105 or given payment system(s) 106. In some embodiments, some or all of a given multi-merchant token may be exchanged with a given VEP entity system(s) 105 or given payment system(s) 106 and may be used in subsequent authorization requests such as for a refund transaction.

Given the rapid rate of advancement and cost reduction relative to display technology, some POS terminal systems 102 may utilize relatively primitive low-pixel count monochromatic POS display device(s) 1024 while other POS terminal systems 102 may utilize high-pixel density color POS display device(s) 1024 with display screens similar to those utilized in hundreds of millions of smart phones and tablet computers. Some POS input device(s) 1022 may utilize relatively crude pressure or proximity sensing technology while other POS input devices may utilize ‘intelligent’ touch sensors that automatically translate complex sets of purchaser movements into one or a series of ‘gesture command’ code(s). In some embodiments, a given purchaser 101 may utilize the purchaser's own personal communication device, such as a smart phone or tablet computer, as POS input and/or display device(s)—1022 and 1024 respectively. Such an increasingly broad range of innovative POS peripheral device technology potentially inter-mixed with relatively primitive legacy devices may place unwelcome development, support and security audit burdens on numerous third party developers of POS system software. Payment Client 1025 a may decrease such burdens by assuming some or all of the direct control of such POS input and/or display device(s), including those devices dedicated specifically to payment processing such as ‘pen pads’.

In some embodiments, “purchase item(s)” (not shown), i.e., good(s) and/or services(s), may be selected and paid for by a given purchaser 101. The purchase item(s) selected by a given purchaser 101 may be scanned utilizing POS terminal system 102 to create a “ticket” (not shown) listing the purchase item(s) and the amount of payment requested to compensate the transacting merchant in exchange for said purchase item(s).

In some embodiments, the purchaser 101 may combine several forms of payment to compensate the transacting merchant for the purchase item(s). For example, purchaser 101 may combine coupon(s), store credit voucher(s) and perhaps some cash along with virtual electronic payment. In some embodiments, payment may be made via more than one of VEP entity system(s) 105 and/or payment system(s) 106. For example, a restaurant bill payment may be split between a Google Wallet account and a Visa credit card account.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may be utilized to facilitate pre-authorization of a contemplated purchase. In some embodiments, such a pre-authorization transaction request may include a requested payment amount, which may approximate the payment amount of an anticipated purchase, and that may be utilized to verify that a corresponding purchase payment transaction request with a similar requested payment amount may likely be approved. For example, a restaurant owning merchant may pre-authorize the estimated cost of drinks and dinner before running a tab for a given party of diners.

In some embodiments, a purchaser 101 may ‘check in’ with a chosen VEP entity by utilizing Payment Client 1025 a to select said chosen VEP entity and communicate purchaser payment credential(s) via payment management system 120 to VEP entity system(s) 105 of said chosen VEP entity. VEP entity system(s) 105 may utilize the said purchaser payment credential(s) to authenticate purchaser 101 and subsequently communicate to payment management system 120 a transaction response approving or declining the check-in authorization request. The “transaction outcome” (i.e., approved or declined) communicated in said transaction response may be communicated by payment management system 120 to Payment Client 1025 a where said transaction outcome may be displayed to purchaser 101 via POS display device(s) 1024.

In some embodiments, the transaction response communicated from a VEP entity system(s) 105 may include a “payment entity specified” (PES) token, which may include encrypted transaction related information for which the decryption key is held exclusively by said VEP entity system(s). Similar to a multi-merchant token exchanged between a POS terminal system 102 and the payment management system 120, a PES token may be utilized in subsequent related transaction request(s) and transaction response(s)—such as for a refund transaction—wherein the PES token is exchanged between payment management system 120 and VEP entity system(s) 105 in place of corresponding clear text transaction information. In some embodiments, the transaction information included in a multi-merchant token may be the same or different from the transaction information included in a PES token. In some embodiments, a multi-merchant token may include some or all of a corresponding PES token.

In some embodiments, a purchaser 101 may present previously purchased item(s) to the merchant for a refund or for a payment adjustment. Said purchaser 101 may also provide a receipt from the original transaction or provide detail(s) of the original transaction—such as SKU, transaction date, chosen payer and/or purchaser payment credential(s). Said merchant may use one or more of such details to retrieve a record of the original transaction via POS terminal system 102. For example, a transaction identifier taken from such a receipt may be utilized by Payment Client 1025 a in order to retrieve a corresponding multi-merchant token that may have been stored by POS terminal system 102—as previously described—as part of the original transaction. Payment Client 1025 a may communicate said multi-merchant token—included in a refund transaction request—to payment management system 120. Payment management system 120 may decrypt said multi-merchant token to extract EPI corresponding to the original transaction and/or to extract a transaction identifier corresponding to a stored transaction record from which EPI may be retrieved. EPI extracted thusly from a multi-merchant token or retrieved from a stored transaction record may be utilized by payment management system 120 to prepare an authorization request.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a attempting to process a refund transaction may be unable to directly retrieve a record of the original purchase transaction from POS terminal system 102—perhaps because the original purchase was made at a different location. Consequently, Payment Client 1025 a may communicate a refund transaction—including details of the original transaction supplied by purchaser 101 and/or a receipt—to payment management system 120. Payment management system 120 may utilize said details of the original transaction to search for a corresponding stored transaction record, which may be utilized to prepare an authorization request. In some embodiments, if unable to directly retrieve such a transaction record, payment management system 120 may query VEP entity system(s) 105 and/or payment system(s) 106 to retrieve a record of the original transaction. Such a retrieved record may contain only a portion of the EPI contained in the corresponding original authorization request. Also such a retrieved record of the original transaction may include encrypted information. In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may utilize information from such a retrieved record to prepare an authorization request. In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may utilize information from such a retrieved record to search for a corresponding transaction record stored previously by payment management system 120, which may be utilized by payment management system 120 to prepare an authorization request.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may facilitate utilization of a display device(s) 1024 to search for and view transaction records stored by payment system 120 so as to manually locate a transaction record(s) of an original transaction(s) corresponding to an intended refund transaction. EPI from such transaction record(s), once located, may be utilized by payment management system 120 to prepare an authorization request for a refund transaction.

In some embodiments of DEP Processing System 1000, payment management system 120 may support interfaces to various VEP entity system(s) 105 wherein said VEP entity system(s) may utilize interface schemes that may vary from VEP entity to VEP entity, POS terminal system 102.

Referring to FIG. 11, in some embodiments, a given purchaser 101 may utilize Payment Client 1025 a, via a given POS terminal system 102, to perform payment related transactions such as: check-in, pre-authorization, purchase payment, and refund. The ordering of steps in the processing of a payment related transaction may have numerous embodiments; therefore, FIG. 11 represents an exemplary embodiment.

Referring further to FIG. 11, at step 1110, POS terminal system 102 may determine the transaction type based on input from purchaser 101 utilizing POS input device(s) 1022.

At step 1120, in some embodiments POS terminal system 102 may utilize POS display device(s) 1024 to offer a given purchaser 101 a selection of one or more tender option(s) from a set of such tender option(s) supported by POS terminal system 102. POS terminal system 102 may use POS input Device(s) 1022 to determine a given purchaser's selection of tender option(s). Tender option(s) may include but not be limited to: cash, bank check, store credit, credit card, debit card, and/or VEP. In the example of a refund—the tender type may be determined automatically based on the tender utilized in the corresponding original transaction payment.

At step 1130, in some embodiments, a given purchaser 101 may select and/or cause to be automatically selected an electronic payment tender option that requires authorization from VEP entity system(s) 105 and/or payment system(s) 106 remote from POS terminal system 102. Alternatively, that purchaser 101 may opt for one or more forms of tender that do not require such remote authorization—say cash and/or store credit voucher(s) and/or coupon(s)—in which case POS terminal system 102 may process the payment locally and the electronic payment processing services accessed utilizing Payment Client 1025 a and/or payment management system 120 may not be required for that processing.

Referring to step 1140, in some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may utilize POS display device(s) 1024 and POS input device(s) 1022 to provide a given purchaser 101 a selection of payer(s) and determine said purchaser's choice of payer. In the descriptions that follow, whichever of VEP entity system(s) 105 or payment system(s) 106 that may be selected for a given authorization request—such choice may be referred to collectively as “chosen payer system(s)” in order to avoid the repeated recitation of the payer choice options cited above.

FIG. 12 provides an exemplary illustration of a payment control subscreen 1200 offering a list of payers from which a given purchaser 101 may choose. In that example, some of the payers include TCB payers: American Express 1250, MasterCard 1260, Visa 1270 and Discover 1280; and include some VEP entities: PayPal 1220, Google Wallet 1230, and Dwolla 1240. Purchaser 101 may decide not to choose any of the payers offered by Payment Client 1025 a and may choose instead to exit payment control subscreen 1200 without choosing payer. An ‘exit’ selection 1290 may be labeled in numerous ways such as ‘cancel’, ‘exit’, ‘back’ or other wording or symbology that may indicate to purchaser 101 that payment control subscreen 1200 may be exited without choosing a payer.

FIG. 13 provides an exemplary illustration of a payer list configuration facility screen 1300 whereby a merchant may configure which payers are displayed in the payer choice payment control subscreen 1200. In some embodiments, the payer list configuration facility (not shown) may generate a ‘payer list’ that may be stored in Payment Depository 1028 of POS terminal system 102 for use by Payment Client 1025 a at such time as a payer choice payment control subscreen 1200 may be displayed to a given purchaser 101. In some embodiments, the payment list configuration facility may be accessed utilizing POS input devices(s) 1022 and POS display device(s) 1024. In some embodiments, the payment list configuration facility may be network accessible.

The payer choice payment control subscreen 1200 and the corresponding payment interpreter configuration screen 1300 may be pre-configurable and/or otherwise modifiable for a given POS terminal system 102 via network accessed updates such that the presence, ordering, visual prominence and/or visual representation of the various payers—as displayed via payer choice payment control sub-screen 1200—may be altered by the appropriate POS system vendor and/or POS system software developer(s).

In some embodiments, the persona pre-configuration facility—utilized by the appropriate supporting POS vendor and/or POS system software developer(s)—, may additionally facilitate the pre-configuration of the payer options subsequently configured by the merchant utilizing payment interpreter configuration screen 1300 and displayed via payer choice payment control sub-screen 1200.

Referring further to FIG. 11, at step 1150, in some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may determine from POS terminal system 102 the requested payment amount and include it with the EPI. For a check-in transaction, in some embodiments, the requested payment amount need not be evaluated. For a pre-authorization transaction, the requested payment amount may commonly be the amount of an anticipated future purchase and corresponding purchase payment transaction request. For a purchase payment, the requested payment amount may be the cost of the purchased item(s). For a refund, the requested payment amount may be the amount of the full or partial refund.

Referring to step 1600, in some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may utilize POS display device(s) 1024 and POS input device(s) 1022 to receive payment credential(s) from a given purchaser 101. Payment credential(s) may vary depending on said purchaser's chosen payer, therefore Payment Client 1025 a may prompt for the appropriate payment credential(s) required by said chosen payer. In some embodiments, purchaser 101 may be offered more than one facility for providing payment credential(s) and Payment Client 1025 a may receive said payment credential(s) from whichever POS input device(s) 1022 corresponds to a given purchaser's choice of input facility. For example, a given purchaser 101 may have the choice of payment card swipe, wireless communication from personal electronic device, optically scanned input of a bar code or QR code, or manually typed credential(s) entry using a keypad. In the example of a refund, transaction identifying information may be input to POS terminal system 102 and utilized by Payment Client 1025 a to reference stored EPI from the corresponding original transaction information record (not shown)—including purchaser payment credential(s)—that may be retrieved and utilized by Payment Client 1025 a for inclusion in the EPI.

Given that some merchants operate multiple physical locations—for example Home Depot—a purchaser 101 may make a purchase payment at one location and subsequently request a corresponding refund at a different location of the same merchant. Payment management system 120 may facilitate such a distributed sequence of transactions by providing centrality for the storage and subsequent retrieval of transaction records.

FIG. 14 describes step 1160 in greater detail by depicting some embodiments of receiving purchaser credential(s).

At step 1410, in some embodiments, for a transaction such as a refund, EPI including purchaser credential(s) may be retrieved in part or in whole from a stored transaction information record such as for a purchase payment.

At step 1420, if a previous related transaction(s) may be identified and successfully looked up, said previous related transaction(s)' retrieved EPI—including purchaser credential(s)—may be utilized in processing the current related transaction, instead of receiving purchaser credential from purchaser 101.

At step 1430, in some embodiments, purchaser credential(s) may include account identifying information or purchaser identifying information depending on requirements of the chosen payer system(s). TCB payers utilize a unique primary account number as part or all of the purchaser payment credential(s). Similarly, some VEP entities may issue a card with a machine readable PAN. Typically paired with purchaser secret information—e.g., a PIN manually entered by purchaser 101 via POS input device(s) 1022—card sourced VEP purchaser payment credential(s) may appear very much like those of a debit card. However, numerous VEP entities may require or offer a given purchaser 101 the opportunity of providing purchaser payment credential(s) without the use of a payment card—for example utilizing a key pad on POS input device(s) 1022 to enter them manually or communicating purchaser payment credential(s) from a smartphone or similar personal electronic device.

At step 1440, in some embodiments, if account identifying information may be required by the chosen payer system(s), for example a 16-digit PAN, POS display device(s) 1024 may be utilized to prompt purchaser 101 for said account identifying information. POS input device(s) 1022 may be utilized by Payment Client 1025 a to receive the identifying information from purchaser 101.

At step 1450, in some embodiments, if purchaser identifying information, for example a 10-digit telephone number, may be required by the chosen payer system(s), POS display device(s) 1024 may be utilized to prompt purchaser 101 for said purchaser identifying information. POS input device(s) 1022 may be utilized by Payment Client 1025 a to receive the purchaser identifying information from purchaser 101.

At step 1460, in some embodiments, purchaser credential(s) may include purchaser secret information depending on requirements of the chosen payer system(s). Some chosen payer system(s) may not require a purchaser secret. For example, some credit card payers require only the PAN acquired at step 1440 above.

At step 1470, in some embodiments, if purchaser secret information may be required by the chosen payer system(s), for example a 4-digit PIN or perhaps a 5-digit billing zip code, POS display device(s) 1024 may be utilized to prompt purchaser 101 for said purchaser secret information, POS input device(s) 1022 may be utilized to receive purchaser secret information from purchaser 101.

Referring again to FIG. 11, at step 1170, in some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may communicate a transaction request to payment management system 120 utilizing communication facility 1081. Said transaction request may include EPI received from purchaser 101 via POS input device(s) 1022 and/or EPI retrieved from transaction information record(s) stored at POS terminal system 102. Furthermore, said communicated transaction request may include the choice of payer and transaction type, which may be utilized by payment management system 120 in the preparation of a corresponding authorization request to be communicated to the chosen payer system(s). In addition to information included in said transaction request, such a corresponding authorization request may be prepared by payment management system 120 utilizing EPI retrieved from stored transaction information record(s) of payment management system 120. Furthermore, in the example of a refund transaction, payment management system 120 may include a retrieved PES token in such an authorization request, which may allow the chosen payer system(s) to retrieve EPI from said PES token or from corresponding stored record(s) of previous related transaction(s). Accordingly, purchaser payment credential(s) may be included directly in EPI included in such an authorization request; and/or purchaser payment credential(s) may be retrieved from stored record(s) by the chosen payer system(s) based on information such as PES token(s) included in such authorization request.

At step 1180, in some embodiments, an attempt to process a payment related transaction may be made on behalf of POS terminal system 102 by payment management system 120 communicating an authorization request to the chosen payer system(s).

FIG. 15 describes step 1180 in greater detail by depicting some embodiments of requesting authorization of a payment related transaction.

At step 1540, in some embodiments, payment management system 120 may determine if the chosen payer system(s) may be communicative. For example, communicativity with a given chosen payer system(s) may be verified by communicating a given authorization request and receiving a corresponding transaction response; or by separate facilities that handshake or otherwise derive an indication of active communicativity with chosen payer system(s), including but not limited to a transaction response to a prior authorization request.

If the chosen payer system(s) may not be communicative, at step 1550 in some embodiments, payment management system 120 may process a given purchaser 101's transaction request directly. For example, particularly for high-volume payers such as Visa, payment manager system 120 may ‘stand-in’ for the non-communicative chosen payer system(s)—i.e., approve the authorization request—and subsequently ‘settle’ with said non-communicative chosen payer system(s) when communication may be re-established. Alternatively, payment management system 120 may simply decline the authorization request and direct purchaser 101 via Payment Client 1025 a to select a different payer choice utilizing POS display device(s) and POS input device(s)—1024 and 1022 respectively.

If the chosen payer system(s) may be communicative, at step 1560 in some embodiments, payment management system 120 may request processing of the payment related transaction by communicating a corresponding authorization request to the chosen payer system(s). As described previously, a given VEP entity or TCB payer may have unique requirements for the communication of an authorization request. For example: specific information included with an authorization request, communication protocol(s) and/or data format(s) utilized for an authorization request, PES token(s) utilized in an authorization request and/or in a corresponding transaction response, as well as additional security procedures. In an example where purchaser 101 may have chosen a VEP entity as payer, payment management system 120 may communicate with VEP entity system(s) 105 via communication facility 1085. Alternatively, where purchaser 101 may have chosen a TCB payer, payment management system 120 may communicate with payment system(s) 106 via communication facility 1087. The chosen payer system(s) may communicate to payment management system 120 in response to an authorization request with a transaction response approving or declining said authorization request. In the example of an approval, chosen payer system(s) may communicate a confirming authorization code possibly included in or represented by a PES token.

In some embodiments, transaction responses may be returned in a different order than the order in which authorization requests may have been communicated to a given VEP entity system(s) 105 or a given payment system(s) 106. Therefore, a given transaction response received by payment management system 120 may include an authorization request identifier peering said transaction response to said corresponding authorization request. For example, such an authorization request identifier may be a multi-merchant token created by payment management system 120, or perhaps a PES token created by a VEP entity system(s) 105 or a payment system(s) 106. The specific composition and format of such an authorization request identifier may be determined by, and therefore vary according to, requirements of a given VEP entity or TCB payer.

In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may include a given transaction response in full or in part in a corresponding stored transaction record. Payment management system 120 may generate and utilize a unique transaction identifier so as to subsequently identify and retrieve such a stored transaction record. In some embodiments, such a transaction identifier may also include identifying subcomponents generated by or associated with POS terminal system 102, payment interpreter 1025 a and/or the chosen payer system(s). In some embodiments such a transaction identifier may include part or all of a multi-merchant token and or a PES token.

At step 1570, payment management system 120 may communicate a “transaction outcome response” including a ‘transaction approved’ indication or a ‘transaction declined’ indication to Payment Client 1025 a. Payment Client 1025 a may determine based on said indication what sort of “outcome message” to display to purchaser 101. Additionally, in some embodiments, such a transaction outcome response may include the identifier of a corresponding stored transaction record such that said transaction record identifier may be stored by a given transacting POS terminal system 102 and/or included in ticket information used to produce a receipt for a given purchaser 101. So for example, a transaction record of an approved purchase payment transaction may be stored by payment management system 120 and a corresponding transaction record identifier may be communicated to POS terminal system 102 via a transaction outcome response and included in a given purchaser's receipt. Said purchaser 101, for the purposes of acquiring a refund, may subsequently provide said transaction record identifier from said receipt and POS terminal system 102 may utilize said transaction record identifier to request a refund transaction via Payment Client 1025 a as described previously. In some embodiments, such a transaction record may include the EPI from the corresponding authorization request, which may subsequently be utilized to prepare a authorization request corresponding to a previous transaction, as in this example—a refund authorization request corresponding to a previous purchase payment transaction. Payment management system 120 may include a copy of a corresponding authorization code in a given transaction record. Payment management system 120 may forward a copy of said transaction record to Payment Client 1025 a along with or including a transaction outcome indication (i.e., approved or declined), EPI and/or other transaction identifying information that may identify the corresponding payment transaction to Payment Client 1025 a and the POS terminal system 102.

At step 1580 in some embodiments, if ‘transaction approved’ is indicated, Payment Client 1025 a may display an outcome message to purchaser 101 utilizing POS display device(s) 1024 indicating approval of the transaction. Furthermore, Payment Client 1025 a may inform POS terminal system 102 of the status of the purchaser's transaction request (i.e., approved) and may provide a copy of the confirming authorization code should the authorization request be approved. POS terminal system 102 may utilize FOS display device(s) 1024 such as a printer to produce a receipt for purchaser 101 that may serve as evidence of the transaction and may include a transaction identifier that may be utilized for subsequent related transactions such as a refund.

At step 1590, in some embodiments if ‘transaction declined’ is indicated—Payment Client 1025 a may display an outcome message to purchaser 101 utilizing POS display device(s) 1024 indicating the transaction was declined. In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may store a transaction record for a given transaction response that declines a given authorization request.

Referring again to FIG. 11 at step 1190, in some embodiments, payment management system 120 may post-process the transaction. For example, payment management system 120 may store a record of a given transaction information including the EPI and/or the corresponding authorization request and transaction response in a data base such as data tier 114 and may associate a unique transaction identifier with said record. The information thus recorded may be analyzed subsequently for utilization in supplemental activities such as a loyalty program, targeted product marketing, or otherwise to develop measurements to help manage and improve DEP Processing System 1000.

Many additions and modifications are possible. In some embodiments, a POS terminal system 102 may be comprised of more than one POS terminal at a given merchant location, wherein said POS terminals may be networked together to operate within a single POS terminal system 102. Such a POS terminal system 102 with multiple POS terminals may utilize a centralized shared Payment Depositor 1028 and communication facility 1081.

In some embodiments, a given purchaser 101 may provide purchaser payment credential(s) such as for a VEP entity account or a debit card account or a credit card account prior to making any purchases. For example, a pre-authorization may be run utilizing said credential(s) to verity the likelihood of payment for purchases that purchaser 101 may be anticipated to subsequently make. A multi-merchant token may be created, as described previously, and said token may be retained by Payment Client 1025 a by storing it in Payment Depository 1028. The information encoded in said token and/or referenced by it may be utilized subsequently to submit an authorization request via payment management system 120 to a chosen payer system(s) without requiring purchaser 101 to provide purchaser payment credential(s) again. Operation such as this may sometimes be utilized for ‘running a tab’.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 may support a configuration facility such that Payment Client 1025 a may be configured to operate with POS input device(s) 1022 and/or POS display device(s) 1024 different from those previously operated with a given POS terminal system 102.

In some embodiments, utilizing network accessed updates, Payment Client 1025 a may provide operation and control support for new and enhanced POS input device(s) 1022 and POS display device(s) 1024. For example, an enhanced POS input device may facilitate purchaser credentialing and/or authentication by bio-metric measurement and/or reception of purchaser transported or embedded identification ‘tags’. Such tags may be embedded in clothing, jewelry, body enhancements, or embedded sub-dermally or deeper. Nanotechnology and biomechanical tags may be supported as well. A number of biometric technologies are already available including finger print scans, retinal scans, and facial, vocal, and speech pattern recognition. It may be within reason to anticipate DNA sequencing based identification. In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 may utilize payment management system 120 to record biometric Measurements made of a given purchaser 101 at a given POS. Additionally, payment management system 120 may be utilized to authenticate said measurements against biometric information associated with said specific purchaser 101 that may have been premeasured or recorded previously—possibly utilizing other POS terminal system(s) 102. In some embodiments, such pre-measured biometric information may be stored by payment management system 120 or for greater security may be stored by a third party system (not shown). In some embodiments, biometric measurements may be encrypted immediately at the reader head and via end to end (E2E) encryption be utilized by payment management system 120 in an encrypted form and/or communicated securely to an aforementioned third party system. In some embodiments, such a third party system may authenticate a given purchaser against biometric pre-measurements maintained securely by said third party system. Additionally, a given purchaser may be identified by a personal device that may serve to vouch for purchaser 101 and provide authentication, credentialing, and/or geo-position updates on a periodic basis. Many scanning sensor devices that may be utilized as POS input device(s) 1022 utilize various frequencies of radiation from sound up through visible light and higher to receive signals. Some such scanning devices may operate in multiple frequency ranges and may combine numerous readings and measurements into a composite identification/authentication.

In some embodiments, Payment client 1025 a may include an ‘auto-configuration’ facility whereby Payment Client 1025 a may use one or more input/output operations to determine the identity of a given POS input device(s) 1022 and/or POS display device(s) 1024 and having identified such device(s), Payment Client 1025 a may automatically configure itself to configure and/or operate said device(s).

In some embodiments, DEP Processing Systems 1000 may provide and/or facilitate a credential(s) translation service whereby a purchaser may enter purchaser payment credential(s) for a different payer other than the chosen payer—for example by swiping a Visa credit card when the chosen payer is Dwolla. In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may make and/or facilitate said translation using systems and methods including but not limited to: utilizing existing transaction information records from previous transactions stored in Payment Depository 1028 and/or payment management system 120 to prepare the purchaser payment credential(s) required by the chosen payer; or querying the chosen payer and requesting said chosen payer attempt a translation based on records they have access to. Such a credential(s) translation may yield a portion of purchaser payment credential(s) and still require a given purchaser 101 to directly provide additional purchaser payment credential(s). For example, the aforementioned Visa card may be read by POS input device(s) 1022 and a given purchaser 101's Visa account number read from said card may be translated to derive that purchaser's Dwolla primary account number or account referencing number such as a ten digit phone number. In this example, purchaser 101 may be required to input the PIN required by Dwolla. To protect a given purchaser's EPI, PES tokens with encrypted account information may be exchanged between payment management system 120 and the chosen payer system(s).

In some embodiments, applicable transaction fees if any may be deducted by DEP processing system 1000 from a given transaction payment and said transaction fees may be credited to the appropriate entity such as the operator of payment management system 120 and/or a given purchaser 101's chosen payer.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 utilizing payment management system 130 and/or Payment Client 1025 a may act as proxy for a chosen payer so as to conduct a dynamic authentication of a given purchaser 101 using for example a challenge/response sequence based on one of several purchaser pre-configured challenge/responses.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 utilizing Payment Client 1025 a may provide support at the POS for more than one human natural language—for example Spanish in addition to English. Similarly, some embodiments, spoken language support may be available for visually impaired purchasers. In some embodiments, such ‘supplemental’ language features may be enabled or disabled utilizing a configuration facility analogous to the payer choice selection facility exemplified by FIG. 15.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may incorporate facilities for network-accessed feature updates. Such updates would allow for added feature support for new transaction types, technologies and/or related devices. For example, a Payment Client 1025 a may be updated to control a newly introduced Near Field Communications (NFC) device.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may coordinate display and input control via interpretable language such as XML so as to allow POS system software and/or the developers of POS system software to modify portions of the XML or augment it with CSS or similar facilities allowing changes to features, such as fonts and colors, so as to allow a close match of ‘look and feel’ between screens controlled by POS system software and payment control subscreens controlled by Payment Client 1025 a.

In some embodiments, the interface(s) used by Payment Client 1025 a to communicate and interoperate with payment management system 120 may be exposed, e.g., with ongoing documented and maintained API(s), such that POS system software developers may directly access said interface(s). In some embodiments, a given POS developer may choose not to utilize or to integrate Payment Client 1025 a into POS terminal system 102 and may choose instead to utilize said interface(s), which may otherwise provide access to services to Payment Client 1025 a, thus allowing POS system software to perform the equivalent functions of Payment Client 1025 a, but with more control by POS system software over the purchaser experience and the purchaser entered data.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may execute as a ‘native app’ or as a ‘web app’ on individual purchasers' 101 smart phones, tablet computers, and similar network connected personal communication and computing devices (not shown). In some embodiments, such an ‘app version’ Payment Client 1025 a may communicate using a mechanism such as remote procedure call to expose an API(s) to POS system software. A ‘docking facility’ may provide support for credential(s) exchange and tokenization so as to provide trusted peering with a given ‘app version’ of Payment Client 1025 a and to provide security against threats such as ‘man in the middle’ attacks.

In some embodiments, an app version of Payment Client 1025 a may ‘tunnel’ POS terminal system 102 utilizing encrypted communications with payment management system 120.

In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may operate on payment management system 120, for example as a body of PHP code, with a generic agent (not shown) such as a browser integrated with POS system software. In alternative embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may operate on a network-accessible web server.

In some embodiments, an authorization request may be prepared by Payment Client 1025 a (rather than payment management system 120) and communicated via payment management system 120 to the chosen payer system(s).

Referring to FIG. 11, in alternative embodiments, steps 1140, 1150, and 1160 may occur in varying permutations of ordering.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 may provide unique fraud detection, fraud suppression and/or fraud alert facilities. Payment management system 120, as an aggregation and distribution facility between numerous merchant POS terminal systems 102 and a number of VEP entity systems 105 and payment systems 106 may be uniquely situated to collect, store, aggregate, analyze and distribute information regarding both legitimate and fraudulent payment related transactions. In particular, the distributed presence of Payment Clients 1025 a within numerous POS terminal systems 102 may provide payment management system 120 the ability to acquire fraud related data from location(s) where fraud may actually be physically committed. For example, a given Payment Client 1025 a may operate an imaging system as part of POS input device(s) 1022, allowing an image of a fraudulent purchaser to be acquired at the POS. More sophisticated biometric measuring POS input device(s) 1022 may be able to directly identify a given fraudulent purchaser. In another example, Payment Client 1025 a may provide a facility for a given checking clerk to ‘flag’ a transaction as ‘possibly fraudulent’ should said clerk have a suspicion about the behavior of a given purchaser 101. Payment Client 1025 a may also provide a fraud alert facility whereby an alert may be displayed on POS display device(s) 1024 of checking clerk(s) at a POS location where a given purchaser 101 may be attempting utilization of a payment account that may be suspected to be compromised. The cumulative effect of distributing fraud vigilance facilities to physical POS locations may be to suppress fraudulent payment attempts at merchant locations.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 may record transaction information including but not limited to: EPI, purchase ticket information, and/or POS identifying information. Such recorded transaction information may be stored by Payment Client 1025 a in Payment Depository 1028 and/or by payment management system 120. In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may be utilized as a store for aggregations of such recorded transaction information such that such records may be retained longer than may otherwise be practical or desirable for such records to be stored at a given POS terminal system 102.

In some embodiments, DEP Processing System 1000 may utilize POS display device(s) 1024 and POS input device(s) 1022 to provide payment related services sourced from payment management system 120 directly. For example, following a check-in transaction establishing the identity of a given purchaser 101, payment management system 120 may provide electronic coupons as partial payment for a given purchase. In some embodiments, for example, DEP Processing System 1000 may thusly facilitate ‘turn key’ merchant loyalty programs.

In some embodiments, the operation of Payment Client 1025 a and/or the ‘look and feel’ of Payment Client 1025 a payment control subscreens configured after Payment Client 1025 a may be executing on POS terminal system 102. In some embodiments, Payment Client 1025 a may be configured via “configuration subscreens” operated by Payment Client 1025 a utilizing POS input device(s) 1022 and POS display device(s) 1024. The resulting configuration changes may be stored utilizing Payment Depository 1028. In alternate embodiments, configuration may be facilitated via network accessible configuration software executing on a system remote and separate from POS terminal system 102—for example, the payment management system 120. Such a remote configuration system may support numerous POS terminal systems 102 such that one configuration may be applied to one or more POS terminal systems 102—facilitating configurations that may differ between POS terminal systems or may be the same for two or more POS terminal systems. In some embodiments, a given configuration configured utilizing such a remote configuration system may be stored so as to be accessible via payment management system 120 and may be communicated to a given POS terminal system 102 utilizing communication facility 1081.

In some embodiments, the payment management system 120 may encrypt a given stored transaction record and include the corresponding decryption key in a multi-merchant token communicated to the transacting POS terminal system 102. Payment system 120 may discard its copy of the plain text decryption key, such that the decryption key from the multi-merchant token may be required in order to subsequently decrypt the transaction record stored at payment system 120.

V. Additional Enhancements—Arbitraged Enhanced Payment

The Arbitraged Enhanced Payment Processing System (AEPPS) is directed to novel methods and systems for processing electronic payments including but not limited to: securing, aggregating, prioritizing, directing, payment processing and post-processing electronic payment transactions. Electronic payment transactions may include electronic payment information (EPI). The AEPPS may support virtual electronic payment (VEP) as well as credit card and debit card payment transactions. The AEPPS may augment the Distributed Enhanced Payment System, which in turn may augment a System for Multi-merchant Tokenization.

AEPPS services utilized by merchants include, but are not limited to: prioritization of transaction processing and choice of payment processor entity(s). In some embodiments AEPPS services may include advance on receivables. Numerous additional AEP services may be provided and the services provided may vary based on factors such as merchant preference, governmental regulation, and payment transaction characteristics. The arbitrage for such services may be derived in part from the differential between the cost of money for a given merchant and the cost of money for that merchants chosen payment processor. Other factors as well may allow for arbitrage, for example, the effective cost of services or cost efficiencies derived from processing substantial volumes of payment transactions.

The speed with which a payment transaction is processed may be readily apparent to the purchaser utilizing the merchant's POS system. The speed of authorization may have a real impact on the purchaser's satisfaction with the purchase experience. Payment management entities may aggregate very large flows of payment transactions. By prioritizing the processing of some payment transactions over other payment transactions, the apparent processing time of some payment transactions may be decreased while the apparent processing time of other payment transactions may be increased. A customer-conscious merchant may pay a premium for higher priority processing, whereas a cost-concerned merchant may receive a discount for choosing lower priority processing. Other merchants may choose base-line priority processing with neither an associated premium nor a discount.

Payment management entities and payment processing entities are service intermediaries interposed between merchants and VEP payers and/or TCB payers. Each additional service provider in the payment transaction processing chain may add costs. Furthermore, the fees charged and the services provided may vary from entity to entity. Consequently, there may be incentives for a given merchant to lessen the number of such intermediaries. A given payment management entity may aggregate payment transactions and then direct the flow of such payment transactions to a third party payment processing entity rather than performing payment processing in-house. The AEPSS may provide the means for a given payment management entity to process payment transactions in-house, i.e., directing payment transactions directly to VEP payers and TCB payers—thus operating as a payment processing entity and supplanting the services provided by third party payment processing entity(s). Furthermore, a payment processing entity utilizing such AEPSS may offer payment processing services to third party payment management services and/or combined payment management and payment processing services to third party independent sales organizations (ISOs).

A given merchant may have an established business relationship with an incumbent payment processing entity and therefore may be disinclined to switch services to a payment management entity offering to provide their own payment processing services. The AEPPS may accommodate such an election by a given merchant by directing payment transactions from such a merchant to a chosen third party payment processing entity as opposed to directing them to be processed in-house or by a payment processing affiliate, thus preserving the status quo relationship with said merchant as that merchant's payment management entity rather than expanding the relationship and displacing the third party payment processing entity.

From time to time, a VEP payer(s) and/or a TCB payer(s) may undergo service outages. In such situations, so as to avoid an interruption in payment transaction processing service, a payment management entity may “stand-in”, i.e., directly assume responsibility for authorizing the acceptance of a given purchaser's payment. In essence, this may serve as a form of service guarantee protecting merchants from service outages. A payment management entity may provide a similar but broader service providing an advance on receivables. Such a service in effect may stand-in regardless of a service outage by a VEP payer(s) and/or a TCB payer(s). The payment processing entity may thus take responsibility for payment to the merchant and settling the correspondingly assigned payment transaction independently with the appropriate VEP payer or TCB payer.

To facilitate discussion, FIG. 16 shows an exemplary structural block diagram of an Arbitraged Enhanced Payment Processing System (AEPPS) 1600, which in some embodiments may be utilized by a given merchant's point of sale (POS) system 102 to facilitate processing of electronic payment transactions on behalf of a given purchaser 101. In some embodiments, the AEPPS 1600 may be utilized without modifications or additions to legacy payment transaction formats utilized by POS systems 102 to transact electronic payments utilizing the AEPPS. The AEPPS 1600 may thus be compatible with legacy POS systems without requiring modifications to the hardware or operating software of said POS systems.

In some embodiments, the AEPPS 1600 may provide a facility (not shown) for pre-configuration of the AEPPS's processing of AEP. In some embodiments, the merchant's POS system 102 may be utilized to access said pre-configuration facility, In some embodiments, a separate network accessing system (not shown)—such as a laptop computer system with web browser software—may be utilized to provide “out of band access” support for said AEPPS pre-configuration facility. Such an out of band accessed pre-configuration facility may enable older legacy POS systems 102 to transparently utilize features of the AEPPS without modification, updating or reconfiguration of said legacy POS systems.

In some embodiments, a given merchant's POS system 102 may be updated to utilize AEPPS 1600 services. In some embodiments, a merchant's POS system 102 may utilize enhancements to electronic payment transaction communication protocols (not shown) to provide “in-band access” support for the AEPPS pre-configuration facility. Such an in-band AEPSS pre-configuration facility may enable a merchant's POS system 102 to periodically revise the service configuration of the AEPPS. For example, a POS system 102 may detect an exceptionally large payment and accordingly raise the processing priority before said large payment transaction is processed by the AEPPS.

In some embodiments, such an in-band AEPSS pre-configuration facility may be additionally enhanced to provide an “immediate-mode” AEPSS configuration facility such that the service configuration information accompanying a given transaction may apply solely to that transaction. Effectively, such an immediate-mode AEPSS configuration facility may allow POS system 102 control of payment processing on a per payment transaction basis. Numerous other configuration granularities may be possible. For example, a POS system 102 may service configure a given AEPSS to process a whole class of said POS system's payment transactions in a specific way. A specified class may for example be “all payments in excess of $500” or “all American Express Card payments”. The combinations of granularity and class specificity may be near infinite.

In some embodiments, AEPPS processing features that may be configured via out of band, in-band or immediate mode configuration or otherwise configured may include, but not be limited to; 1) priority processing of electronic payment transaction(s); 2) directing of electronic payment transaction(s) to a specific payment processing entity; and/or 3) advancing payment of receivables.

Referring further to FIG. 16, in some embodiments an AEPPS 1600 may facilitate access to payment services including AEP services for a given merchant's POS system 102 via a communication facility 1081 wherein said merchant has a direct business relationship with the payment management entity providing said payment services utilizing payment management system 120. Such an AEPPS 1600 may additionally provide payment services including AEP services for an unaffiliated merchant's POS system 1610 via a communication facility 1615 wherein said merchant has a business relationship with a third party ISO or third party payment management entity rather than a direct relationship with the payment management entity providing said payment services utilizing payment management system 120.

In some embodiments, a given unaffiliated POS system 1615 may utilize communication facility 1615 to communicate with a given ISO feeder system 1620. A given ISO feeder system 1620 may utilize communication facility 1625 to communicate with payment processing system 120.

In some embodiments, payment management system 120 may support a multiplicity of payment transaction communication protocols via payment service(s) 104. Such payment transaction communication protocols may utilize encryption to secure EPI and may exchange encrypted EPI, i.e., token(s), with POS system(s) 102 as described above. A tokenizer encryption service 110 may be utilized to encrypt and decrypt EPI as described above. Encryption keys and tokens may be recorded and retrieved utilizing data tier 114 as described above. Payment service(s) 104 may be augmented to support enhancements to various payment transaction communication protocols so as to support additional services such as in-band and/or immediate mode access support for AEPPS configuration.

In some embodiments, payment arbitraging servicer 1640 may facilitate AEPPS services including, but not limited to: prioritization of transaction processing, choice of payment processor entity(s), and advance on receivables.

In some embodiments, payment arbitraging servicer 1640 may support a multiplicity of payment processing communication protocols utilized for communication with third party processing system(s) 1650 via communication facility 1645. Such payment processing communication protocols may utilize encryption to secure EPI and may exchange encrypted EPI with third party processing system(s) 1650.

In some embodiments, a given third party processing system(s) 1650 may utilize a communication facility 1655 to communicate with payment system(s) 106.

In some embodiments, payment processing servicer 1640 may support a multiplicity of payment entity communication protocols utilized for communication with VEP system(s) 105 and payment system(s) 106 via communication facilities 1086 and 1087 respectively. Such payment entity communication protocols may utilize encryption to secure EPI and may exchange encrypted EPI with said system(s) 105 and/or 106.

In some embodiments, analytics 116 may facilitate post-processing services including but not limited to merchant accounting. Information required for processing by analytics 116 or resulting from analytics processing may be recorded in a data base such as data tier 114.

FIG. 17 depicts some embodiments of payment arbitraging servicer 1640. At step 1710, in some embodiments, a service control directive(s) corresponding to a given payment transaction may be retrieved so as to affect said transaction.

FIG. 18 further details step 1710. At step 1810, in some embodiments, for a given transaction, a configuration key(s) may be prepared so as to be utilized to retrieve an associated recorded configuration(s) such that said recorded configuration(s) may be utilized to control AEP services corresponding to said transaction. In some embodiments, more than one key and associated recorded configurations may be thusly utilized—for example, a key associated to the recorded configuration for a specific POS system 102 operated by a given merchant corresponding to the payment transaction and another key associated to a separate recorded configuration for all of said merchant's locations (not shown).

At step 1820, in some embodiments a given payment transaction may be considered to see if it may contain configuration information.

At step 1830, in some embodiments, configuration(s) updating information that may be contained in a given payment transaction may be considered to see if it may be intended to apply solely to the corresponding transaction. Such single use configuration(s) updating information may be referred to as “immediate mode” configuration information. In some embodiments, such immediate mode configuration information may utilized without updating recorded configuration information.

At step 1840 in some embodiments, configuration updating information contained in a transaction and utilized to update recorded configuration(s) may be recorded in a data base such as data tier 114. In some embodiments, such configuration updating information may be utilized in processing the corresponding transaction as well as to update recorded configuration(s).

At step 1850, in some embodiments, configuration key(s) corresponding to a given transaction may be utilized to determine if there may be recorded configuration(s) corresponding to said transaction.

At step 1860, in some embodiments, a configuration key may fail to facilitate the retrieval of any recorded configuration(s) and thusly, a default configuration(s) may alternatively be utilized.

At step 1870, in some embodiments, a configuration key(s) may facilitate retrieval of recorded configuration(s). In some embodiments, recorded configuration(s) may be set to default(s) such that recorded default configuration(s) may be retrieved utilizing a configuration key(s) corresponding to a given payment transaction.

At step 1880, in some embodiments, the results of processing to retrieve recorded configuration(s) corresponding to a payment transaction may be considered to determine if more than one configuration information corresponding to said transaction may have been retrieved. Furthermore, such considering may include detecting immediate mode configuration information that may correspond to said transaction.

At step 1890, in some embodiments, conflicts between recorded configuration(s) and/or conflicts between recorded configuration(s) and immediate mode configuration information may be reconciled to eliminate said conflicts by determining and subsequently utilizing a reconciled configuration. For example, a recorded configuration may indicate that a corresponding given payment transaction may be assigned a payment processing priority that is lower than base-line while an immediate mode configuration may indicate that said corresponding transaction may be assigned a payment processing priority that is higher than base-line.

In some embodiments, the payment arbitraging servicer 1640 may include facilities to reconcile conflicting configuration information corresponding to a given payment transaction so as to result in reconciled configuration information. In some embodiments, different payment transactions may have different numbers of recorded configurations thusly retrieved. So for example, a given payment transaction may have a recorded configuration corresponding to a POS system 102 that sourced said payment transaction, whereas, a different payment transaction—sourced say from a different merchant—may utilize a recorded configuration corresponding to said different merchant's ISO feeder system 1620 as well as a recorded configuration corresponding to said different merchant. In some embodiments, the facilities for such reconciliation may utilize rules-based logic to derive reconciled configuration information. In some embodiments, random-like or otherwise arbitrary processes may be utilized in part or in whole to derive reconciled configuration information. In some embodiments, neural networks, human or other biological systems and/or third party assistance may be utilized in part or in whole to derive reconciled configuration information.

At step 1895, in some embodiments, a service control directive(s) is retrieved utilizing configuration information corresponding to a given payment transaction. Such a service control directive(s), for example in the form of information and/or executable code, may control the services applied to a given payment transaction by or under the control of payment management system 120. For example, a service control directive may be a vector pointing to a given payment processing executable code segment. In some embodiments, in addition to being retrieved utilizing configuration information corresponding to a given payment transaction, a service control directives(s) may be enhanced utilizing analytics, signals and measurements such as communication facility congestion and least cost routing, percentage of compliance to service guarantees, accessibility of an affiliated payment processing servicer(s) or a third party payment processing system(s).

Referring again to FIG. 17, at step 1720, the prioritization of a given payment transaction is determined utilizing the corresponding service control directive(s) corresponding to said transaction. In some embodiments, such prioritization may be relative to the priority of other transactions, thus allowing a given transaction to be processed sooner or perhaps later than some other payment transaction(s) also awaiting processing. In some embodiments, such prioritization may be based in part or in whole on service guarantees that in some embodiments may utilize specific performance metrics to demonstrate compliance. In some embodiments in order to support a desired prioritization for a given transaction, said transaction may be directed to an affiliated party payment processing servicer or third party payment processing entity. In some embodiments, statistics may also be recorded to provide metrics relative to prioritization of payment transactions. Said statistics may be processed by analytics 116 and utilized to refine prioritization to attain goals such as improved service guarantee performance, lowered costs, greater processing efficiencies.

FIG. 19 further details step 1720. At step 1910, in some embodiments, the service control directive(s) for a given transaction may be considered to determine if a higher than base-line prioritization may be accorded by said service control directive(s). Such a higher prioritized transaction may be termed a “preferred” transaction.

At step 1920, in some embodiments a given payment transaction may be assigned a higher priority than base-line priority based on the corresponding service control directive(s).

At step 1930, in some embodiments, the service control directive(s) for a given payment transaction may be considered to determine if a lower than base-line priority may be accorded by said service control directive(s). Such a lower prioritized transaction may be termed a “discounted” transaction.

At step 1940, in some embodiments a given payment transaction may be assigned a lower priority than base-line priority based on the corresponding service control directive(s).

At step 1950, in some embodiments a given payment transaction may be assigned a base-line priority based on the corresponding service control directive(s). In some embodiments, base-line priority(s) may be consistent for all payment transactions or may vary between classes of transactions. A given base-line priority may remain static for long periods of time or may be adjusted on a more frequent basis. Adjustments to a base-line priority may for example be arbitrary and/or may be the result of analysis of processing metrics.

Referring again to FIG. 17 at step 1730, in some embodiments, a given payment transaction is directed for payment processing based on the service control directive(s).

FIG. 20 further details step 1730. At step 2040, in some embodiments, a VEP indicator corresponding to a given payment transaction may be considered to determine if it is a VEP transaction.

At step 2050, in some embodiments, the service control directive(s) corresponding to a given payment transaction may be considered to determine if said transaction may be processed directly.

At step 2060, in some embodiments, a given transaction may be forwarded to a third party payment processing system(s) for processing. Such a transaction may be termed a “forwarded transaction”.

At step 2070, in some embodiments, a given transaction may be retained for processing—for example “in-house” utilizing payment processing servicer 1660 or by some other affiliated payment processing servicer (not shown). Such a transaction may be termed a “retained transaction”.

Referring again to FIG. 17, at step 1740, a given retained transaction may be processed in-house in accordance with the service control directive(s) corresponding to said payment transaction. Such an in-house processed transaction may be forwarded to a VEP entity system(s) 105 or payment system(s) 106 as appropriate. In some embodiments, should a VEP entity system(s) 105 or payment system(s) 106 be off-line or otherwise unavailable for payment processing, payment management system 120 utilizing payment processing servicer 1660 may stand-in for a given transaction as described previously above. In some embodiments, payment processing servicer 1660 may be utilized to process a given transaction directly so as to provide a given merchant an advance on receivables. In some embodiments, a given payment transaction may be processed by a remote third party payment processing system(s) 1650 in accordance with the service control directive(s) corresponding to said payment transaction. Such a remote third party payment processing system(s) 1650 may output to payment management system 120 a transaction outcome indication (not shown) corresponding to said payment transaction.

At step 1750, in some embodiments, payment management system 120 utilizing payment service(s) 104 may return a transaction outcome indication—corresponding to a given processed transaction—to the source of said transaction, i.e., a POS system 102 or an ISO feeder system 1620.

At step 1760, in some embodiments, payment management system 120 may post-process a given transaction. For example, payment management system 120 may store a record of a given transaction information including the EPI and/or the corresponding authorization request and transaction response in a data base such as data tier 114 and may associate a unique transaction identifier with said record. In some embodiments, such a transaction record may include some or all of the configuration information and or service control directive(s) corresponding to said transaction. In some embodiments, sensitive portions of a transaction record may be secured using encryption. In some embodiments, transaction records may be utilized to generate account reports for merchants and/or ISOs. In some embodiments, transaction records may be analyzed for utilization in supplemental activities such as a loyalty program, targeted product marketing, or otherwise to develop measurements to help manage and improve transaction configuration reconciliation, transaction prioritization and transaction processing.

In sum, the present invention provides a system and methods for multi-merchant tokenization of transaction payments augmented by and integrated with: 1) distributed processing of virtual electronic payments (VEP); and 2) arbitraged processing of electronic payments, including but not limited to VEP as well as traditional credit and debit card payments. The advantages of such a system include: the ability to enable transactions to be performed in more a secure manner; to provide an easily integrated cost-effective solution for processing VEP; and to provide AEP services that may, among other benefits, enhance merchant cash flow and cost savings—all with little or no disruption to the ongoing processing of electronic payments.

While this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, there are alterations, modifications, permutations, and substitute equivalents, which fall within the scope of this invention.

It should also be noted that there are many alternative ways of implementing the methods and systems of the present invention. It is therefore intended that the following appended claims be interpreted as including all such alterations, modifications, permutations, and substitute equivalents as fall within the true spirit and scope of the present invention. 

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A computer-implemented method for electronic transaction processing using a service control directive, the method comprising: receiving, at an electronic transaction management system, an electronic transaction from a point of sale terminal; retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from a data tier; deriving, by the electronic transaction management system, a reconciled configuration based on retrieving more than one configuration; retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, a service control directive based on the reconciled configuration, the service control directive comprising computer-executable code configured to control processing of the electronic transaction; forwarding, by the electronic transaction management system and using the computer-executable code, the electronic transaction to an electronic transaction processing system of a plurality of electronic transaction processing systems; receiving, at the electronic transaction management system, a response from the electronic transaction processing system; and outputting, by the electronic transaction management system, the response to the point of sale terminal.
 22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the electronic transaction comprises configuration updating information and the method further comprises: updating, by the electronic transaction management system, one or more configurations stored in the data tier using the configuration updating information.
 23. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the service control directive designates the electronic transaction processing system to which the electronic transaction is forwarded.
 24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, the one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from the data tier comprises: generating one or more configuration keys corresponding to the electronic transaction; and using the one or more configuration keys, retrieving the one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from the data tier.
 25. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the service control directive is enhanced based on at least one of: analytics, signals and measurements such as communication facility congestion and least cost routing, percentage of compliance to service guarantees, and accessibility of an affiliated electronic transaction processing servicer or a third party electronic transaction processing system.
 26. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, further comprising; storing, by the electronic transaction management system, the service control directive as part of a transaction record corresponding to the electronic transaction.
 27. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the computer-executable code of the service control directive is further configured to prioritize the electronic transaction over other electronic transactions.
 28. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the deriving, by the electronic transaction management system, the reconciled configuration based on retrieving more than one configuration comprises: reconciling one or more conflicts between the retrieved configurations using rule-based logic.
 29. The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein the electronic transaction processing system is an in-house electronic transaction processing system resident within the electronic transaction management system.
 30. An electronic transaction management system for electronic transaction processing using a service control directive, the electronic transaction management system comprising: one or more processors; a non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising: receiving, at an electronic transaction management system, an electronic transaction from a point of sale terminal; retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from a data tier; deriving, by the electronic transaction management system, a reconciled configuration based on retrieving more than one configuration; retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, a service control directive based on the reconciled configuration, the service control directive comprising computer-executable code configured to control processing of the electronic transaction; forwarding, by the electronic transaction management system and using the computer-executable code, the electronic transaction to an electronic transaction processing system of a plurality of electronic transaction processing systems; receiving, at the electronic transaction management system, a response from the electronic transaction processing system; and outputting, by the electronic transaction management system, the response to the point of sale terminal.
 31. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the electronic transaction comprises configuration updating information and the method further comprises: updating one or more configurations stored in the data tier using the configuration updating information.
 32. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the service control directive designates the electronic transaction processing system to which the electronic transaction is forwarded.
 33. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the retrieving the one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from the data tier comprises: generating one or more configuration keys corresponding to the electronic transaction; and using the one or more configuration keys, retrieving the one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from the data tier.
 34. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the service control directive is enhanced based on at least one of: analytics, signals and measurements such as communication facility congestion and least cost routing, percentage of compliance to service guarantees, and accessibility of an affiliated electronic transaction processing servicer or a third party electronic transaction processing system.
 35. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the method further comprises; storing, by the electronic transaction management system, the service control directive as part of a transaction record corresponding to the electronic transaction.
 36. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the computer-executable code of the service control directive is further configured to prioritize the electronic transaction over other electronic transactions.
 37. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the deriving, by the electronic transaction management system, the reconciled configuration based on retrieving more than one configuration comprises: reconciling one or more conflicts between the retrieved configurations using rule-based logic.
 38. The electronic transaction management system of claim 30, wherein the electronic transaction processing system is an in-house electronic transaction processing system resident within the electronic transaction management system.
 39. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method comprising: receiving, at an electronic transaction management system, an electronic transaction from a point of sale terminal; retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, one or more configurations corresponding to the electronic transaction from a data tier; deriving, by the electronic transaction management system, a reconciled configuration based on retrieving more than one configuration; retrieving, by the electronic transaction management system, a service control directive based on the reconciled configuration, the service control directive comprising computer-executable code configured to control processing of the electronic transaction; forwarding, by the electronic transaction management system and using the computer-executable code, the electronic transaction to an electronic transaction processing system of a plurality of electronic transaction processing systems; receiving, at the electronic transaction management system, a response from the electronic transaction processing system; and outputting, by the electronic transaction management system, the response to the point of sale terminal.
 40. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 37, wherein the deriving, by the electronic transaction management system, the reconciled configuration based on retrieving more than one configuration comprises: reconciling one or more conflicts between the retrieved configurations using rule-based logic. 